An approach to the synthesis of thioesters and selenoesters promoted by Rongalite®

Rongalite® promotes cleavage of diaryldisulfides generating the corresponding chalcogenolate anions that then undergo facile reaction with N-acylbenzotriazoles in the presence of K2CO3 to afford thioesters in good to excellent yields. The important features of this methodology are no requirement of metal catalysts, without any expensive reagent and high yields. It is noteworthy that the reactions of diphenyl diselenide with N-acylbenzotriazoles are also conducted to afford selenoesters in good yields under the standard conditions.